I'm An Ayurvedic Expert & This Is What I Do For Great Sleep Every Night

When I began studying Ayurveda almost 30 years ago, I started using ghee (clarified butter) internally and topically, and it has since become one of my go-to tools.

Ghee is delicious in the kitchen and tastes great on toast or vegetables, but in Ayurveda, it's also considered a powerful medicine—used for everything from digestive healing to joint pain to headaches. 

I've found that it also happens to be surprisingly effective for preparing the body for bedtime.

Ghee, vata imbalances, and sleep

If you're new to Ayurvedic medicine, one of its core principles is that health stems from balance. We're all made up of three elements, or doshas: the heat of fire, the motion of wind and air, and the solidity of earth and water (pitta, vata, and kapha, respectively). 

We are all a unique combination of these three doshas. And when one of our elements goes out of balance, we feel it in our bodies. Let's say you suddenly find yourself easily irritated or getting a skin rash. In that case, your fire element, or pitta, is likely aggravated. Instead of indulging in chilis and tequila and hot yoga, you'll want to do the kinds of things and eat the kinds of foods that cool you down. It's really common sense: When you're too hot, take off the sweater! 

In Ayurveda, sleeping problems are thought to be created by a vata imbalance. In the case of insomnia, our vata, our motion, has become aggravated with too much stress and overwhelm. In order to balance ourselves out, we need to do things that are calming, grounding, and nourishing.

Ghee is one of the most powerful "tools" for balancing vata, and its soothing qualities lend themselves to deep and rewarding sleep. Here are a few of my favorite ways to work with the ingredient come bedtime.

How to use ghee to enhance your sleep

When I need a little extra calming at night, I love to drink a mixture of almond milk, spices, and ghee. It's so easy to make, and I can feel it relaxing me almost immediately. 

Ingredients

Method

I've also found that massaging the soles of your feet with a little ghee before bed helps bring about the most wonderful and truly restful sleep. Here's how this warming ritual is done:

When stacked onto a healthy sleep routine, these techniques can work wonders. If you struggle with sleep, it's still important to keep up with the tried-and-true tips: Limit exposure to blue light from phones and computers at night to help maintain the integrity of your circadian rhythm; give yourself sufficient time to wind down with some yin yoga, music, or meditation (I love Transcendental Meditation); take a warm bath, etc.

In my nighttime routine, I typically use one of Surya's Calming Bath Soaks to soak for 20 minutes, then get right into my pajamas, apply my nighttime skin care, and slip into bed.

Finally, though it's sometimes hard to do, try to go to bed early when you can. In Ayurveda, the hours between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. are when the body does most of its healing. Unfortunately, we can also get a "second wind" around 10 p.m. because this is when we enter a time when pitta (our fire dosha) dominates.

If you can shift your routine so that you're in bed by 10 p.m., you'll probably get more restful and restorative sleep.

The takeaway

From an Ayurvedic perspective, we're all part of nature's cycles—and we have the power to get back in flow with nature using gentle and simple practices. These easy practices that incorporate ghee help calm the vata dosha and set the conditions for deep sleep and the restoration that comes with it.